Bartholomew was puzzled at the sudden shift in attention. One minute her was talking to the boy with eye contact but the next the boy was looking further out at the Lake. Bartholomew could not see behind him so he had not the vaguest of ideas of what had just bobbed into view. There was a possibility that the boy had already grown tired of him.

Bartholomew turned his great big eyes to the girl who had laughed. "Hi, there. Out and about enjoying the cold as well?'' Movement not far from his location caught his eye. Had that other girl seen something interesting as well? Was that what the squinting was about?

"Something in the water?" Bartholomew inquired upon hearing the conversation. "You mean other than I myself being up here at the surface?''